1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sanitary pickup devices for animal droppings and the like and more particularly to a novel portable pickup device having an improved litter or dropping pickup bail and actuator arrangement for positive grasping and collection of material to be picked up and disposed of.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to have a clean, sanitary device for picking up unclean material such as droppings from dogs, cats, etc., for transporting the material to a convenient disposal place, such as a garbage can, and for depositing the material in the can.
In addition to the desirability of keeping lawns, parkways, walks and the like clean of such material which may present a health hazard, there may be laws or ordinances requiring the owner of an animal to perform such cleanup or there may be such requirements in leases or in condominium agreements.
It is particularly desirable to be able to accomplish such cleanup in a sanitary manner without contaminating or getting such material on the user's hands or clothing, or on the permanent parts of the pickup device.
Prior devices generally involved pushing or scraping the material into some permanent container or receptacle, such as a pan or cup, either with an additional tool or by scooping the material with the receptacle itself. This invariably resulted in the receptacle and/or the tool becoming contaminated by the material and requiring that it be cleaned immediately to avoid an unsanitary condition created by merely storing the device.
Further, prior devices generally required the user to bend down to ground level, which is inconvenient and uncomfortable, particularly for older people, people with back problems, etc. In addition, prior devices required great care in transporting the material to avoid dropping it, and often they would not readily permit picking up a second load of material without first being unloaded.
The conventional devices permit the user to grasp the material in a disposable wrapper means supported on the device for ready removal and replacement by a fresh wrapper means. The wrapper may be baglike wherein an inverted bag can be placed between open frame pickup members and the marginal portions of the bag turned over the bottom edges of the members so that when the members are then moved together about a body of material to be collected, the material is retained in sealed condition within the bag and does not touch the members or other parts of the device. The bag being of compliant material may thereby extend outwardly through the open frame members. The members may again be moved apart to release the collected material, and the disposable wrapper may also be removed from the device without touching the portion which contacted the unclean material.
Although a multiplicity of sanitary pickup devices have been employed in the past, a typical example is disclosed in U.S. Letters Patent 3,446,525. However, problems and difficulties have been encountered which stem largely from the fact that the bail and actuator mechanism do not always permit achievement of the above-mentioned goals and intended usage. For example, the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,525 includes a pair of moving bails which are opened into a wide condition by means of a scissors or an overcenter toggle mechanism so that a wide entrance is provided between the bails for reception of droppings into a bag that has been preloaded onto the bail arrangement. Such a mechanism is complex requiring internal spring-loaded construction as well as a mechanical linkage interconnecting a hand-operated lever with the pair of movable bails. Because the bails are both movable, positive reception and pickup of droppings is not always obtainable. Also, maintenance of the pickup bag on the pair of bails is less secure when both bails are movable. Likewise, when it is time to discard a loaded bag, the pair of movable bails is more awkward and less convenient to operate during the disposal and discarding procedure. In order to provide for more effective release of the bag and disposal of its contents, a single movable bail has been found to be more effective.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel sanitary pickup device for animal droppings or the like which has an improved bail pickup means and mechanism which not only enhances the pickup process but provides for a more convenient disposal procedure.